Ciao Italia!: Amsterdam!

This past weekend we took our last trip to a city and went to Amsterdam. A lot of people we know studying in Florence don’t get to go because the flights are so expensive and because there aren’t any bus trips offered. We were very excited to go from what people said about the city.

We left Friday morning and connected through Rome. We didn’t get to Amsterdam until around 6:00 pm. We got a hotel again for this trip, and it ended up being a lot fancier than expected. Tiff always says we are so confused as to who we are because sometimes were in a hotel that treats us like royalty and other times were in hostels with mold everywhere and Europe’s weirdest people.

On the flight over we sat between an older Dutch man who gave us some tips on Amsterdam. “Tips” basically means where and what to eat. He said they were famous for their sauerkraut and Chinese food. Always a good combination.

After hearing so much about Amsterdam at home and in Italy, we had crazy expectations for the city. We were wondering if instead of leaving chocolates on your pillow they leave a complimentary joint, or if people would be running around screaming on some sort of drug. They were much more strict about drugs than expected. People we talked to said that alcohol still causes more problems in Amsterdam than Marijuana. It was such a unique experience to visit such a relaxed city. On our first day there we were waiting in line at a McDonald’s and a man came up in the line next to us and said to the cashier “I would like a BigMac”. We weren’t paying attention to him but we saw the cashiers freak out laughing. We looked over and the man was completely naked and still saying “I would like a BigMac”. It was hilarious but absolutely disgusting at the same time.

On Saturday we woke up early to go see the Anne Frank house. This was very disappointing from the outside because it was totally redone and very modern looking. We continued walking around Amsterdam and got to see a much prettier side of the city than we saw on Friday. The canals and buildings give a very cute story book feel to the city. I have never seen so many bikes in my life, literally everyone rides one.

We still had yet to see the red light district, and since reading Dutch street names is one of the hardest things ever we had trouble finding it. We realized we were there when Tiff said “oh my god there’s like a 400 pound black woman standing in that window!” This was the most shocking part of Amsterdam by far. The girls stood in the windows trying to lure men in any way possible. Tiff and I wondered what the equivalent job to a prostitute in the red light district is in America since it is legal. Probably a neurologist or something like that.

For the rest of the trip we enjoyed the good weather, good shopping, and good food. We ended up having so much fun because it was much more laid back than the rest of our trips.

We flew out of Amsterdam on Sunday and had a connecting flight through Rome. When we landed we had 10 minutes to get to our flight. Tiffany and I always make fun of the douche bags sprinting through the airport, and this time we were them. By the time we got to our gate the shuttle to the plane had already left and they wouldn’t come back for us. There were another 10 people that were supposed to be on that flight that missed it as well. Since they were Italian, they didn’t sprint to the gate so we were the only ones sweating profusely in the Alitalia Customer Service line. They said that they were going to give us a hotel and dinner and we would fly to Florence at 9 am the next day. Everyone was freaking out saying they had work, school, or something to do. Tiff and I were both laughing because we have no Monday commitments and were more excited about getting 2 free meals than we were upset about missing our plane. It turned out to be a much bigger ordeal than expected and our hotel wasn’t as 5 star as we imagined. We still couldn’t complain though because we didn’t lose a dime and didn’t miss class.

Now that all of our city trips our done, were starting our beach vacations! Were spending our long Easter weekend in Capri, Postitano, and Pompeii. Almalfi Coast here we come!